books · daily work · our office · sneak peek · trade show

Countdown to TNNA Winter 2013

It’s hard to believe that in just a few weeks Norah, Amanda and I will be on our way to sunny Long Beach, California.  We won’t be wasting any time on the ocean, though.  We’ll be at The National Needlearts Association’s annual winter trade show.

TNNA, as its more commonly known, holds two big trade shows each year to kick off the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter seasons.  These events are the place where industry insiders meet to share the latest info on hot products and new fashion trends.  I’ve never been, but I’ve quickly learned that – here, at Berroco – it all starts with the booth.

Do you prefer your yarn shaken or stirred?
Do you prefer your yarn shaken or stirred?

At the Summer 2011 Trade Show, we had a “Yarn Bar” where curious shop owners could come and practice knitting with our new yarns before placing an order.  It was so popular, we brought it back for the Winter 2012 Trade Show!  Last June, the booth became a fitting room, with samples of our patterns available to try on.

Our fitting booth gave shop owners a better feel for our new designs.

We (by we I mean our amazing warehouse workers) actually set up this winter’s booth earlier this month.  Last week, the design team began adding fixtures and figuring out where each item will go.  Next week they’ll start decorating.  And right when they finish, the booth is packed up and shipped out west.   Then we (this time I really do mean we) will have to set it up all over again.  It might seem excessive, but we want to make sure it looks good!

Norah and Amanda have a lot of work to do!

I can’t tell you what we’ve come up with this time, but I can tell you it involves our new baby book, Comfort Knitting & Crochet: Babies & Toddlers.  I’d love to know what you think it’ll look like.   Leave your idea in the comments and be sure to check back in February to see pictures from the show!

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